Today we left the cultured confines and temperate climate of San Diego for the hellish hot of the desert to the east. We really liked the San Diego area, and the climate was of course, perfect at it always is in San Diego. But I don't think I could ever get used to the traffic. Everywhere you want to go is just a lot of traffic, and for some reason I had a hell of a time getting the right freeway ramp, there are so many of them. It was great fun just the same.
     It only took about 15 miles of freeway driving, and we were back on normal 2-lane roads heading east . We followed a bunch of different roads, from CA-67 to CA-78, to CA-79, to CA-371, to CA-74 the Pines to Palms Highway. With each road change, the scenery got a little better as we crossed several mountains, and our elevation increased to about 3000 ft.The vegetation also became sparser, and the temperature just kept getting hotter. The mountains were rockier, and everything looked sandier, we were heading into the high desert. All the way through, the riding was great. The road was interesting enough, but the curves were not too sharp, and the hills were not too steep, so most of the day was in 5th gear, with an occasional downshift to 4th.
     When we reached the last 20 miles or so of CA-74, there was a beautiful scenic vista overlooking the town of Palm Desert. Up until this point, the temperature had been hovering in the high 90's or low 100's. Not much worse than Florida, and there was a small breeze. But after the scenic overlook, we made a steep descent from about 3000 ft to about 1000 ft through a series of sharp, steep switchbacks . As we reached the floor of the valley, it was amazing how quickly the temperature came up. By the time we made it to the short stretch of I-10, the bike temperature gauge read 113 degrees. That's hot!
     Luckily, when we made the turn onto CA-62, the temperature came back to a mere 106.    We looked around, and there were wind generators everywhere on this stretch of road, we quickly found out why as the wind speed between the mountains rose to about 30 knots. A slow breeze at 108 degrees is cooling, but a high wind at 108 degrees just makes it seem hotter. Fortunately, the windy section of road was not very long. As we climbed the next mountain, over and into Yucca Valley, the wind died down, and the temperature dropped back into the upper 90's, by this point a welcome relief.
     It was only 2:00 and too early to go to the hotel, so we decided to drop into the Joshua Tree National Park Visitors Center. It gave us the opportunity to see the obligatory 20 minute movie and talk to the ranger about what to see in the park . Our original route was to go in the west entrance, and exit out the south, then head northeast into Henderson, Nevada just outside Las Vegas. She showed us that the more interesting area of the park were between the western and northern exits, and there really wasn't much to see in the south. Between the northern exit and Las Vegas was also the Mojave Preserve which would be a shorter and more interesting ride. She helped us map out a route, so we should have lots to see tomorrow.
     Rather than venture into the park at 3:00 in the afternoon, we decided to take the opportunity to stop at the local Wal-Mart we had spotted near the hotel and pick up a few things. Then we checked into the hotel, and checked out the pool. It was outdoors, but in the shade of the building, so the water was actually a little cool and felt great. Fully cooled down, we headed over to the local highly rated Mexican restaurant for some enchiladas, chicken for me and cheese for Jody. Delicious! The Mexican food is much better out west than the stuff we get in Florida . Every restaurant also has it's own recipe for salsa, and some have really been excellent!
     Tomorrow we plan to put on our shorts, and slather up with sunscreen as we know it will be hot. Temperatures are predicted to be in the 100 to 108 degree range, but we won't be surprised if it gets a little hotter. We will also fill the cooler so we can stay hydrated, and we have a couple of air conditioned stops along the way. We'll also try to get on the road early before it gets too hot. These are all great ideas, but we already have resigned ourselves to the fact that it will be hot. We're Floridians, we can take it!

192.2 miles today
13,232.0 miles total

4.500 gallons today
318.269 gallons total